and paper, and ribbon, and ink, and...

March 2009

March 31, 2009

I think that if I made Thank You cards everyday, then it will take me at least three months to catch up with as many as I am in need of! I'm not complaining...in fact it's the opposite! Kindness has been showered upon our whole family, and it is an absolute joy for me to make thank you cards!! :-)

I had not yet inked up the branch (from the Branching Out set from Taylored Expressions), and I was in the mood to make a soft Spring card...so that is exactly what I did! I have to say that I really, really enjoyed making this card...from the coloring (with Copics), to the paper and embellishment choices, and even the stitching! I even dusted off my Copic air brush gun to create a soft sky look. :-)

I combined White and Buttercream cardstock with this pretty patterned paper by Bo Bunny (Abbey Road Collection). For the birdhouse, after coloring it with Copics I used my Sahara Sand marker to draw subtle stripes to create some texture on it. To finish it off, I added just a touch of Stardust Stickles to the leaves and bird and a few Taylor's Tiny Twinkles to the tag and top right of the card.

I've had a lot of questions about the Copic colors I use. I haven't been listing them because honestly, I feel like such a novice with them that I didn't think anyone would be interested! Because I've been receiving so many emails asking which colors I used I will now start to list them (if I can remember LOL!).

Another question that I've been asked many times is how I achieve dimension on my cards (see detail picture above). I think that I probably add a bit of dimension on just about every card I make...I just adore the look! I use two different products....Stampin' Dimensionals (by Stampin' Up!) for the small pieces (like the bird and birdhouse on this card) and 1/16" Foam Tape for all the larger pieces and various layers.

I wanted to show you the Foam Tape that I use...it comes on a VERY large roll (which is great because I like buying the products I use frequently in bulk...it saves me money!)! One reason I took a picture with a ruler, is because when I received my first roll I was SHOCKED at how large the roll really was!

I have the ruler leaning just a little here...so it actually measures 10 1/2"...but the ruler was more for a point of reference. All in all...this is the least expensive foam tape I have found, costing $ .70 a yard!!

Also, I want you to know that I am waaaay behind on emails! I'm slowly catching up...so if you haven't heard back from me yet, please be patient...I will answer you! Hugs, Laurie

I'm back! No, I didn't go anywhere...we are all just recovering from the flu. Yuck! Having a larger family usually means that when one person comes down with something, it passes from person to person...which also means lots of sleepless nights for me. On the bright side, I got a LOT of cuddles and snuggles from my little boys!! :-)

I thought I would share a couple of cards (one now and one later tonight) that I made several days ago (before we all got sick). I got the idea for this card when I first saw this set (Just Bugz) in the Our Craft Lounge booth at CHA. The sentiment "Wazzzzup?" just cracked me up, and I thought it would be cute to pair it with a stack of these sweet little lady bugs!

I started with some bright patterned paper (Sakura Park Collection by Kaiser Craft) and stitched around the edges. To create the "stack o' bugs", I stamped the top one, masked it (click HERE for a tutorial on masking), stamped the one underneath, and then repeated until I had four bugs. I kept the embellishments simple: a popped up flower on the top lady bug, a couple of stitches using black hemp, and a large button.

Ok...I better go and get dinner on the table! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs, Laurie

March 27, 2009

Part of me is having a hard time believing that my daughter is officially a *teenager* today!! Wow!! She is really growing up! The other part of me is SO excited!! I've mentioned here before what an AMAZING girl she is...and even within the past year we have grown so close. Even if I could have her "little" again...I wouldn't trade our relationship now for anything!

Because Ali's taste in colors and patters are *quite* a bit different than mine, I just knew that I would need some help creating her card! Well, Charmaine to the rescue!! :-) She has created the sketch for this week's Weekend Sketch Challenge! With the fun sketch already to go...I then just picked out some of the brightest and funkiest papers I could find!

I know...bright, huh? :-) Well, I couldn't make a distressed and muted vintage card for her (as much as I wanted to)! LOL Actually, I have to admit that I really liked how it turned out! :-) I stamped the cupcakes (from the Maya Road Cupcakes set) onto Neenah White c.s., colored them with my Copics, and then cut them out. I layered them onto a white piece of c.s. that I cut/embossed with my Curvy Rectangles Nestabilities, added a little bit of sparkle with my Sakura Stardust pen, and then coated the tops with Crystal Effects (see close-up picture below). The chipboard "13" is made from some numbers I found in my stash (I just covered them with some coordinating patterned paper). That way cool brad thing at the bottom is from Chatterbox's new Easy Brad Maker! I actually was able to see this at CHA and knew right away I had to get my hands on it! They had such beautiful samples there displayed...and some even had small photographs in them...LOVE it!!!

March 26, 2009

Happy Thursday! Can you believe the week is almost over? GASP! I guess time flies when you're doing taxes....sigh... :-) Actually, I finished all that I could do, but we've been all under the weather here (in more ways than one! :-). We've gotten quite a bit of snow lately (18 inches over the last several days) as well as fighting off some virus that has been making the rounds in our community... But I'm sure we'll all be back to normal soon!

It's my day to share what I've created for the March Project Parade over at the Verve Stamps Blog! I used the new Chocolate Bunnies set to create a simple (and very chocolatey :-) gift set!

To see pictures of each individual item (and to see the inside of the card, please check out the post on the Verve blog HERE. As with all the project parades...there are prizes to be had! :-) But this project parade they are giving away extra prizes...five random commenters (on the Verve blog) will win a free Verve set of their choice!

I will definitely try to get back into my stamp room soon! Hope you have a wonderful day! ~Laurie

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